two questions voters asked most while campaigning

When I was out knocking on doors, campaigning for city council, I talked to neighbors about literally dozens of topics. But two questions came up numerous times, so I thought I’d answer them here for anyone else who is curious.

Bob Heuvelmans

The first actually came in a number of variations, but they were basically, “what don’t you like about Bob Heuvelmans, and what will you do differently?” I made it clear to the voters that I have no beefs with Bob Heuvelmans. I don’t have one of those pushbutton issues that got me upset and caused me to run. I’ve disagreed with Bob on a number of issues, but I’ve been paying attention to our city council for years, and I suppose when you do that, you’re bound to disagree with a number of alderpersons from time to time. I also told voters that generally speaking, I’ve been happy with decisions that the council has made. So, while I certainly understand a voter’s need to find things that differentiate us, I had a difficult time providing that information.

Bob was on the City Council for 4 years, and on the West De Pere School Board for 12 years prior to that. You don’t spend 16 years in elected office without great support from your community. And even our election was no landslide; I won by only 28 votes. So, Bob is well-liked in the community, and I like to think that voters simply had a choice between two good guys. How refreshing.

One other point about this. I made the decision to run back in 2010. From there, it was just a matter of choosing the right time to do it. This year my two oldest daughters will graduate from college and my youngest will graduate from high school. So the timing turned out to be right for me and my family. And truth be told, our district lines were redrawn this year, putting me in Bob’s district. Had they not been redrawn, I might have run against Alderman Bauer. So, I didn’t run because of Bob. I ran because I love De Pere and wanted to be involved in the business of the city.

The second question that voters asked numerous times is, “are you related to the De Pere Creviers?” Actually, folks have been asking me this question for years. And of course they’re referring to Paul and Marie Creviere from the De Pere Journal. The short answer is “yes”, we’re distantly related. While our names are spelled differently, we come from the same family who emigrated from France to Quebec in the 1600s, and then into America 200 years later.

I hope that some day, when people refer to the “De Pere Creviers”, maybe they’ll be referring to me. I’m fully aware that because of Paul and Marie, the Creviere name is very well respected in our community, and I hope to do the name proud.